The association of childhood intelligence with mortality risk from adolescence to middle age: Findings from the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s cohort study

There is growing evidence that childhood IQ is inversely associated with mortality in later life. However, the specificity of this association in terms of causes of death, whether it is continuous over the whole range of IQ scores and whether it is the same according to age and sex is not clear. In a large cohort (N = 11,603) of a complete population of children born in one city in the UK in the early 1950s, IQ measured at age 7 years (using a routinely administered picture test) was found to be inversely associated with mortality between the ages of 15 and 57 years. For every 1 SD increase in IQ at 7, the all cause mortality hazard ratio was 0.79 (95% CI 0.73, 0.85). On adjustment for a range of perinatal factors, father's social class at birth, number of sibs in the household and childhood height and weight, this was attenuated slightly to 0.81 (0.74, 0.88). Almost identical associations of IQ with mortality were seen for men and women as well as at younger (15–39) and older (40+) ages. These associations were across the entire IQ range, although some of the high mortality in the lowest category of IQ (< 70) was accounted for by causes associated with congenital disorders. Overall, external causes of death showed the strongest association, with weaker associations being seen for cancer. Further work is required to understand the mechanisms whereby childhood IQ has such a robust association with mortality in later life.     

What Fitness Can’t Be

Recently advocates of the propensity interpretation of fitness have turned critics. To accommodate examples from the population genetics literature they conclude that fitness is better defined broadly as a family of propensities rather than the propensity to contribute descendants to some future generation. We argue that the propensity theorists have misunderstood the deeper ramifications of the examples they cite. These examples demonstrate why there are factors outside of propensities that determine fitness. We go on to argue for the more general thesis that no account of fitness can satisfy the desiderata that have motivated the propensity account.     

School Counselor Inclusion: A Collaborative Model to Provide Academic and Social‐Emotional Support in the Classroom Setting

The increasingly diverse student demographics reflect a myriad of needs in the interrelated arenas of educational achievement, social‐behavioral adjustment, and career development, while federal legislation, the ethical standards of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA; 2004a), and the ASCA (2005a) National Model have emphasized academic achievement and success for all students. This article describes a new model of school counselor “inclusion” that involves collaboration with classroom teachers and changes the setting of school counselor interventions to the classroom for small‐group and individual work.     

Change Processes in Residential Cognitive and Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Social Phobia: A Process-Outcome Study

The purpose of this study was to test cognitive and interpersonal models for improving social phobia. Eighty patients with social phobia were randomized to 10-week residential cognitive (RCT) or residential interpersonal psychotherapy (RIPT). They completed process measures every Thursday and a sub-outcome measure every Monday. The ratings were analyzed with mixed models. Weekly changes in the process variables derived from the cognitive model (self-focus, estimated probability and estimated cost of negative social events, safety behaviors) predicted subsequent weekly changes in social anxiety. Changes in the interpersonal variable perceived acceptance by others also predicted subsequent changes in social anxiety. On the other hand, changes in social anxiety predicted changes in the four cognitive variables. There were no interactive effects of process with treatment. The cognitive variables decreased during treatment to a similar degree in both treatments. The results indicate that, to reduce social anxiety, therapy should target self-focus, estimated probability and cost of feared social events, safety behaviors, and perceived acceptance by others. The process of improvement may involve positive cycles in that a reduction of social anxiety, in turn, appeared to impact self-focus, probability, cost, and safety behaviors.     

Eyewitness identification evidence and innocence risk

It is well known that the frailties of human memory and vulnerability to suggestion lead to eyewitness identification errors. However, variations in different aspects of the eyewitnessing conditions produce different kinds of errors that are related to wrongful convictions in very different ways. We present a review of the eyewitness identification literature, organized around underlying cognitive mechanisms, memory, similarity, and decision processes, assessing the effects on both correct and mistaken identification. In addition, we calculate a conditional probability we call innocence risk, which is the probability that the suspect is innocent, given that the suspect was identified. Assessment of innocence risk is critical to the theoretical development of eyewitness identification research, as well as to legal decision making and policy evaluation. Our review shows a complex relationship between misidentification and innocence risk, sheds light on some areas of controversy, and suggests that some issues thought to be resolved are in need of additional research.     

Teaching the History of Christianity: Critical Themes and Challenges

At the November 2008 meeting of the American Academy of Religion, the History of Christianity section sponsored a panel around the question: “What are the key challenges, opportunities, and goals in the History of Christianity classroom today and how best should teachers respond to them?” Beginning with brief sketches of institutional context and identification of one or more pivotal choices each makes in the course they teach, the panelists explored critical themes and issues that arise in teaching the history of Christianity, first with each other and then through interchange with the audience.     

How Today’s Shocks Predict Tomorrow’s Leaving

Purpose

This research explores “shocking events” as part of the unfolding model of turnover, extending our understanding of the influence of various types of shocks on future voluntary employee separations.

Design/Methodology/Approach

1536 new hires at a large financial institution reported shocks monthly during their first 8 months at work as well as their job satisfaction and perceptions of marketability. We used event history to estimate the basic distributional properties of the shocks and Cox proportional hazards models to examine the effects of shocks on job satisfaction and turnover over the subsequent year as reported by the organization.

Findings

Organizational shocks generally occur earlier than personal shocks. Further, unexpected shocks have a stronger impact than expected shocks on subsequent turnover. Finally, the effects of organizational shocks on turnover are mediated by job satisfaction, whereas personal shocks have direct effects on turnover.

Implications

Our findings offer evidence for the utility of the shock construct in the unfolding model of turnover and speak to the importance of encouraging managers to monitor shocks on an ongoing basis in order to predict when different types of shocks will occur and their likely influence on turnover.

Originality/Value

Ours is the first study to examine shocks as they occur. This is a contrast to prior studies that relied on retrospective accounts. Thus, we are able to test new hypotheses (e.g., direct effects vs. mediation) that expand the unfolding model of turnover.

     

Relationships among pain intensity,pain-related distress,and psychological distress in pre-surgical total knee arthroplasty patients: a secondary analysis

The current study aimed to examine the relationships between movement and resting pain intensity, pain-related distress, and psychological distress in participants scheduled for total knee arthroplasty (TKA). This study examined the impact of anxiety, depression, and pain catastrophizing on the relationship between pain intensity and pain-related distress. Data analyzed for the current study (N = 346) were collected at baseline as part of a larger Randomized Controlled Trial investigating the efficacy of TENS for TKA (TANK Study). Participants provided demographic information, pain intensity and pain-related distress, and completed validated measures of depression, anxiety, and pain catastrophizing. Only 58% of the sample reported resting pain >0 while 92% of the sample reported movement pain >0. Both movement and resting pain intensity correlated significantly with distress (r_s = .86, p < .01 and .79, p < .01, respectively). About three quarters to two thirds of the sample (78% for resting pain and 65% for movement pain) reported different pain intensity and pain-related distress. Both pain intensity and pain-related distress demonstrated significant relationships with anxiety, depression, and catastrophizing. Of participants reporting pain, those reporting higher anxiety reported higher levels of distress compared to pain intensity. These findings suggest that anxious patients may be particularly distressed by movement pain preceding TKA. Future research is needed to investigate the utility of brief psychological interventions for pre-surgical TKA patients.